REVIEW: The Halloween Children

The Halloween Children
Author: Brian James Freeman & Norman Prentiss

Stillbrook Apartments is a complex much like every other apartment complex in any major city.  It has the usual mix of people....suburban working parents, teenagers who like to bully younger kids, elderly residents who complain all the time, families who break the no pet rules, loud upstairs neighbors, annoying leasing office staff. Harris and Lynn live in the complex with their two kids. Harris is the complex handyman and his wife works from home as a computer help desk tech. All is well (or at least relatively ok) with their little family.....until Halloween. When the Halloween Children come out to play.

This book is a quick, creepy read! It would be perfect for a chilly Halloween night's scare. The tension builds slowly to an ending that caught me by surprise. I was thoroughly creeped out. Awesome scary story! There were a few gross moments...so readers with queasy stomachs be forewarned. No chips and salsa snacking while reading this book. ha ha :) The gore is subtle...not overdone....and adds to the horror perfectly. What this story does in just 174 pages is beautifully horrific.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. So I'm always in favor of a good Halloween theme story. The Halloween Children did not disappoint. The story is told from the point of view of several of the characters. I don't usually like changing points of view, but for this story it worked. It kept the pace and tension building slowly and steadily until the very end. This would be a great quick read for any horror fan looking for an evening of creepy reading or while handing out Halloween candy to the neighborhood kiddos.

Both Brian James Freeman and Norman Prentiss have published many works of horror fiction. I'm definitely going to be checking out more of their writings!

**I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book from Random House via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**